


The Broken Forest

by Jacbot



Series: Fighting Another Nightmare [2]
Category: Little Nightmares (Video Game)
Genre: After Breaking the Nightmare, F/M, Mono's a broken boy, Mono's annoyed but still cares, Six and Mono try to mend their mistakes, What's goin on with Six?, You have been warned 0_0, more tears for my tea, not 10/10 writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:15:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29476848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacbot/pseuds/Jacbot
Summary: Six may have gotten Mono out from the Tower, fixing her mistake, but after what she did, he can't forgive her, not yet. After leaving the now frenzied City square, they wander into a dead forest and meet some old nightmares. Revenge from the grave as they say...Based after the events of "Breaking the Nightmare". You might want to read that one before this, or you can just read anyway, be a rebel :P
Relationships: Mono/Six (Little Nightmares)
Series: Fighting Another Nightmare [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2169819
Comments: 63
Kudos: 339





	1. Starting Anew

Six showed no emotion as Mono wrapped the cuts on her hands. Her eyes ached and stung, but she only focused on the floor. 

“Geez, you cut yourself pretty well Six,”

Mono sounded worried. It made Six’s insides twist with guilt, but uncovered none of it on her face.

Mono kept glancing up at her face from time to time, seeing her pale expression with red-rimmed eyes. He couldn’t help but give disappointed sighs. He still harbored more than a little anger inside him given what had happened between them, but he forced it aside for the time being.

That could wait until after Six was patched up and they had found a safe place to bunker down in where they weren’t exposed or vulnerable. 

He wiped Six’s cheek of stray blood as he finished tying the last bandage.

They needed time to think to themselves. To gather their thoughts before they could talk about it. Right now, they needed to get out of the city. And with Mono no longer in the Signal Tower to sustain it anymore, he doubted the broadcast was able to still transmit to the TVs.

Which meant the Pale City would be more than twice as treacherous to escape than before now that the inhabitants didn’t have their screens to pacify them. It wasn't going to be a simple task. 

“We need to get moving,”

Six nodded and stood up, Mono gently took Six’s hand and lead her out of the room, down some pipes, and to the streets.

 _‘_ _God I hope we get out ok,’_ he scanned over the wet streets before walking through them. They kept their ears peeled, Mono kept a gentle grip on Six.

Viewers ran rampant through the streets, but they didn’t just seem angry, they were insanely furious. They knocked over everything in sight and chasing the littlest of creatures, moths, rats, flies, they did it all. It only made Mono second-guess himself to death over what to do next, they were so unpredictable, they weren’t messing around this time. Six on the other hand seemed unphased, and started to get impatient with Mono's waiting. She gripped Mono’s hand hard, despite the pain, and taking daring darts to crates, bottles, ditches, and alleyways. She got them out from the heart of town and into a little city park with dead trees and dry grey grass. Mono gripped his heart to feel it beating like drums, he took a moment to catch his breath as Six kept gandering around. 

“SIX!? WHAT WAS THAT!?”

Six nonchalantly turned to his anger,

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT!? Didn't you see all the viewers!? UNPREDICTABLE AND DANGEROUS!?”

she didn’t say anything, only giving a shrugging look,

 _‘what else what were we going to do?’_ her look said.

Mono shook his arms around and growled in his throat in frustration, Six found it mildly amusing, he was acting like a little child. Mono planted his hands onto his face as he stood still, Six came beside him as he peeked through his fingers. 

“What did the Tower do to you Six?” Six bobbed her head from side to side, Mono just limped his arms as he started walking through this dead forest, Six accompanying behind as always. He really needed a place to sort himself out, someplace where he didn't need to worry. But until then...

**But they better watch. Their. Step.**


	2. The Forest’s Siren

Despite the small number of buildings and structures sprinkled around, they didn’t have much cover besides the hollow trees and small ditches. The wind howled through the deserted forest, only some crows and worms seemed to live in this area.

Mono felt uneasy and tightened his grip on Six’s hand. She gave him some comfort, knowing that he wasn’t alone, he had someone, a friend, and Six felt the same...or tried. She never felt such hard emotions before, never had a reason to, and being alone for so long, she was used to eerie things. But being with someone made her feel strange, but not bad, she just never felt it before. It tingled through her body, serging a pleasurable feeling throughout her. Maybe that's why she dropped him, the feeling was gone, just the empty, sucked feeling that she knew was gone. Her rock still expression replacing any other, his screams giving no emotion inside... 

“Six?” she turned to him without any hesitation, giving him a sharp scare. 

“You ok? You’ve just been...you’re just looking very-”

_Heeheeheehahaha!_

The two froze and quickly looked around, they saw some children-looking figures running behind a large dead oak tree. They looked familiar, too familiar, but they couldn’t place it. 

“Come on,” Mono whispered, they walked a ways ahead, keeping their eyes on the trees.

They found a sharp pokey stick near a decayed and broken bush. Mono ripped it out from the late plant and dragged it along with them, it shed some of its spikes and leaving it looking like a nail-bat. They continued to walk and wander till they reached a small clearing, a large crooked shack in a very warped and grey tree. The tree looked old, dead, but young and living. But something else sparked their interest, and fear, there were lots of dead leaves scattered across the ground with memorable rusty metal jaws sticking out. 

“No...it, it couldn’t, right?” Mono looked back for confirmation, Six shrugged, her face looking paler than before.

They heard scattering once again, seeing children skulking out of grey bushes, having the same color pattern as the tree. Their heads were large and glasslike, wearing dead leaves stitched together as camouflage.

Mono looked in disbelief. Bullies? Outside of the school? How? What’s with the leaves? they were mean and crafty, but they weren’t THAT crafty. Once the Bullies spotted the two on the other side, they frantically ran across the leaves, most of them getting greeted by the bear traps. Only one lucky bugger got past, and like Mono’s arm wasn’t begging for a break already.

He cracked half of the Bully’s head, throwing off his balance and making him stumble back. His body fell onto a beartrap, his head popped off and rolled next to another trap, but it didn’t spring it.

Hope sparked for a moment inside Mono but quickly dwindled. The head was half-cracked from his blow, he couldn’t use it, and even if he could, what about Six? He couldn’t leave her behind...he didn’t think of anything else.

Mono had Six gather some little sticks to throw onto the traps, and with the beartrap field disarmed and no longer dangerous, they stood at the foot of the tree. Close together nailed boards led up into the wooden shack above, Mono felt more dread swirl in his stomach. Mono looked behind to see Six giving him a reassuring nod, it gave him enough confidence to start climbing up into the shack above. 

The house was broken and cracked, looking like a house just appeared in the tree. The layout for the first room was dull, just some plain wooden counters with few wooden appliances, looking like the untextured house of the Hunter. But it didn’t fully click in their heads as they pressed on. But Six felt the layout felt far too familiar, the halls, the doors, the rooms, the...music. Six heard faint music through a cracked dark wood door. It sounding so familiar to her, calming, luring, Six looked like she was in a trance as walked towards the door. Mono didn't notice as he investigated a damp cardboard box full of shotguns, traps, rope, cages, oil-lamps, and the Hunter's signature lantern lights. Mono’s face scrunched in horror as he read the box: “Personal Child Hunting Equipment”. 

“Oh no...Six, we to go, we need to go now-” he turned around to see unequipped floorboards punctured with grey branches. His heart sunk faster than a boulder in water, she left him again, where did she go!?

“SIX!? SIX!?” Mono started hyperventilating, he needed to find her, but why did she leave!? _'Oh, dang it Six! Why can’t you just...GRRRR!!’_ Mono ran down the small hallway, trying to see if he could find Six before they were caught. But then his ears tickled with the melody of a music box, far and faint.

His heart felt like tar and bricks were thrown into it. It was Six’s music box, the kind she loved, and he knew it couldn’t be anything less than a dirty trap. He slid past the door and tripped down the stairs, face planting into the floor with splinters stabbing his face as the music grew. He groaned painfully as he tried to pull them out. A flashlight laid right in front of him, dusty and painted with blood, probably from another poor sod before him. He snatched and turned it on, the flickering bulb of light shined down the hall where the music echo against the walls.

He swallowed down his bravery before walking down the hall, seeing rotting corpses of rats, beavers, squirrels, and children with their bodies split down their middles. The rancid smell made Mono feel of puking, he wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But he knew Six was down here, she wasn't deterred, so he wasn’t going to either. As the music grew with each step, another shivering noise presented itself. A shivering sound of bones cracked and moving, and Mono could only think of the worst.

He glittered his light onto a door next to the poorly crafted worktable, both nearly identical to the ones he saw in the Hunters shack. Peering through the splitters and cracks of the door, he saw a small man blocking his view, a brown coat covering his backside and a fedora hat on his boney textured head.

It seemed to be doing something, but Mono was blocked by him. He wished she could see Six, he hoped he could see that she was ok. He hoped...

**He hoped...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can Six just leave a music box alone for FIVE MINUTES!?


	3. New Problems

Mono needed to get inside, he knew she was inside, and he half hoped that history would repeat itself as he ran back down the hall. Luckily, there was a side room like before, with a handcrafted stone ax lodged into the wooden wall, like before.

He readied his stance and jumped up to the prickly wooden handle, bouncing up and down before it snapped off and knocked on the floor. Mono sat up and stood to his feet before he heard a loud sniffing sound. A squeaky door opened down the hall, which wasn’t good. He tried to find a hiding spot, but there was only a crumpled milk carton with a large enough hole to squeeze in through, but it would do. He popped himself through the hole and into the other side, spoiled milk soaking his pants and coat. 

“Great,” he whispered, a loud sniffle made him covered his mouth. Bone-cracking accompanied the monster's shadows, flowed through the darkness like fire.

The monster sniffed the air as his hands came into view. Mono was disgusted, its arms were stretched and long, like the Teacher's neck. It searched and felt every nook and cranny of the room, continuing to smell the air for anything offputting. He came very close to the carton, rubbing his hands over it and smelling near the hole. Mono held his breath as he got a good look at his face.

It was like he was wearing a mask, it looked similar to the ones in the hospital. Did he use to be a patient? He could've been, but he didn’t have any mechanical or mannequin parts, it didn't fit the Doctor's style of work. The man gave an annoyed growl, he didn't find anything so it slowly retreated back down the hall, its neck continuing its ghastly cracking. 

“I hope you left for a good reason Six,” He gritted through his teeth.

He wasn’t angry, he was just scared for her safety, like always. But now with a monster guarding the room with impeccable hearing around it, he needed to be even more careful to get inside. He dragged the ax as close and quietly to the door as possible and peaked inside again. It was again blocked by Mr. longarm’s backside.

Mono sat near the hinges of the door and thought for a moment.

 _'How I’m I going to get him out of that room? That thing has some long arms and good hearing, smell seems to be on his side too. Hmm...wait, can he see?’_ Mono remembered the creature's mask, it was dropping with no visible eyeholes.

 **he was blind**.

That’s why he felt and sniffed everything, craning his neck to hear everything, replacing his sight. He needed to use his other senses, maybe he can use that against him, but how?

Now he wished there was a TV around. What could he use? The ax! He didn’t need to break down the door if the creature kept it open, and that’s what Mono hoped for as he raised the ax and threw it near the stairs, ducking for the table after.

The knob wiggled and opened as the little man started sweeping the area again. He waddled over to the stairs and picked up the ax. Mono quietly sneaked into the room as it examined the ax.

He quickly grabbed a toy block slid it into the doorway. With his escape plan secured, he turned around into the fluffy darkness. he clicked on his flashlight and shined it around, the music was the loudest now, but unable to be pinpointed. One thing he could think that Six would hide under was the rusty bed, handcrafted toy blocks littered near, acting as a wall. 

“Six?” he whispered, it didn’t bring Six out, his heart beat faster, what was wrong? Did he go into the wrong room? He moved some of the blocks and tried to shine the flashlight under, but the bulb flickered its last time. The batteries were dead.

“Six, please? Six?” he begged, tossing away the flashlight. She had to be in this room! Where else was the music coming from? 

“Six, please...please...” He heard the cracking of bones behind him with the man waddling back into the room. Mono crouched down and walked back into the farthest corner of the room. The man closed the door, but it was jammed on the block. It when unnoticed to it as he went over to the bed and fished his long fingers underneath. The music was gone. 

As he was fishing around, he saw Six sneaking away from the man with a music box in her hands. Mono brightened with excitement but was quickly replaced with dread again.

Something was...off.

Her proportions, they were off. She looked taller, her arms were a bit longer, and her hair was longer. It confused Mono, why did she get taller? HOW did she get taller? But it didn’t matter, they needed to get out, NOW. Mono crawled over to the door and looked towards Six as she crawled over to a corner close to the door, caressing her music box like a newborn baby. 

“Six...Six! over here!” Six slowly turned her head towards Mono but sat stationary. Be put his hands near his mouth but stopped himself from shouting, but his mimicked shout caught Six's attention greatly.

She carried her prize as she crawled over to Mono, then just sitting back down next to him, her odd behavior worried Mono. He gently grabbed her arm and tried to have her follow behind, but she didn’t budge. She just sat near the door, holding the mechanical music maker near her chest. _‘_

 _No...no, no, no, no! Why is she acting like this!? Why is she attracting to my mimicking?!'_ something was changing her again.

He mimicked another call and she followed, at least he didn’t need to actually yell for her, but it still meant she wasn’t going to follow willingly. They were able to get back up to the hallway, no more moonlight shining through the cracks as Mono squinted to see ahead, Six seemed to follow without the need of sight.

They got to the front door and he looked down at the ground below, seeing the moonlight shine off the hiding Bullies in the dead bushes and leaf piles. Joy, more obstacles, and he didn’t have a weapon. They could run, but they couldn’t hide from these sad sacks of glass. And what about Six? Could she even climb down with her music box in hand? She wouldn't leave without it, but he got an idea once he felt his coat pocket.

Mono carefully crawled over to Six, she just looked his way blankly, her black hair covering her eyes entirely now. 

“H-Hey Six, y-you ok?” she gave a slow nod as she sat her box down on the floor,

“Ok, l-look, we need to go down, c-can you climb down w-with your music box?” she swayed her head no, her hand raised and rested on the crank, Mono held his breath. _‘Don’t turn it’_. 

“Ok, t-then I need to take it, I can carry it down and I’ll give it back to you at the bottom, ok?” he took out a spare milk-soaked rope from his pocket. Six seemed hesitant at first but didn’t say anything as Mono slowly reached out to touch the music box. Six just breathed slowly as he picked it up, tieing it around the music box and around his body. 

“I’ll give it back when it’s safe, ok?” Six slowly leaned over and rubbed her forehead on Mono’s, the soft touch of her hair and skin. It felt strange, but Six was showing affection, it was a nice little gesture. A show of progress. 

“LeT’s gO,” Mono gave her a smile before starting to climb down the plank ladder. Six crawled down, upside down like a spider, but she was following now without his mock calls.

They reached the bottom and Mono slowed his breath, his eyes locked to the bushes, now for the hard part. 

But Six went ahead from Mono and slowly crawled went up to one of the bushes, giving an inhuman growl as a Bully fearfully walked away from her. She was like a predator, other Bullies seemed to cower away farther than they were. Even without expressions, Mono saw that the Bullies were entirely terrified of Six. How? They tied her up before and even after being let go they didn't care, now they’re running away.

Mono snapped back to reality as Six gestured for him to come over. Now Mono was following Six as she walked through the bear traps and back into the heart of the woods, that was easy, _too easy…_

**FAR TOO EASY…**


	4. Composing Trust

Mono sat against the tree as Six wound her music box. The gentle melody filled their ears, Six seemed to be fine now, but Mono couldn’t figure out why she even changed in the first place.

It couldn’t be the music box, could it be the static tree? The short blind man? Her fear? His fear? His thoughts swam around with the notes of the music, at least Six seemed content at the moment. Mono felt ok too, but something just felt horrible in his stomach.

They got out so easily, too easily. The Deadforest Bullies could tell the blind man in the shack, or even…

 _‘No, he’s dead, we shot him, he couldn’t...how could he even get over here to the city?’_ Mono looked towards the static blue glow of the city, the Signal Tower stood tall above all. Dead, sleeping, with no lights or noises emitting from it. He hoped that _thing_ wasn’t alive. He hoped that it would crumble, deteriorate without him. Mono looked back at Six, her face just plain as she stared at her comfort, her only comfort.

Mono couldn’t blame her, they were just children, and through the terrors of the world, it was her only tool to relieve her stress and sanity. Mono had nothing but Six, and she was his comfort, his happiness. seeing her play with tools and toys, helping him get to his goal gave him new hope in years. He was **happy** for the first time in years...But after that, Mono couldn’t feel that anymore.

He was still glad to have her, but the happiness, the hope, it was just replaced with paranoia, fear. What if she leaves him? Drops him for dead again? It was the reason she couldn’t forgive her yet, but he still tried to wrap his head around why she dropped him. He did think she didn’t know how to care, but there had to be more to it than that! What did the Tower do to her? What did it make her into? How did it affect her mind? Her body? He wanted to know, but how would Six know?

She was a victim, like him, she would want the same answers. Isn't that what every child wanted? They wanted to know why they were hunted, killed, eaten. And now, more than ever, Mono didn't want more questions, he **needed** answers. But how would Six play into that? Ever since the drop, the short time he spent in the room, after the plaguing revengeful and sour thoughts...he had another. Was Six using him? Just a tool to discard, put away? No, she couldn't, she always helped, she always looked ready to help...did she? 

He tried to recall, but he couldn't understand her chemistry. She wasn't readable, she couldn't talk, she barely made faces, she was blank. It scared him, not being able to know what she wanted, what she was thinking. It still scared him, he opened up to her, but she didn't, would it hurt to give something back? It felt unfair, it annoyed him, it **angered** him! He gave so much! Rescuing her, helping her, playing with her, and she gave nothing back for it! 

His angered thoughts were interrupted by something that knocked his leg, he turned to see Six looking at him, her music box resting against his leg.

 _‘_ _Do you want to try?’_ she seemed to say, Mono took turns glancing at the toy, and Six.

 _'I mean, it couldn’t hurt, right?’_. Mono picked up the music box and sat it on his lap, looking over the handle. He hesitated before clasping the handle tightly and slowly winding it. The heavenly music played slowly, making his raging thoughts feel numb and faint. It made him feel calm, peaceful, all done from a melody of metal. It reminded him of the first time he found her, her broken stature slumped over the music box, somberly winding it around and around. She didn't seem to care that she was stuck in that room, stuck for days on end. Her only care was the music box, her joy, her peace. It was why he felt the overbearing strong urge to get her out. How sad she looked, so dependant on the toy, looking like it was the only thing keeping her there. 

But now he had a different look. The music gave peace and calmness, yes, but it seemed to give off memories. He remembered Six. He remembered when they played in the school playground. He remembered when they shared the fire in the hospital. He remembered her trying to keep him away from the door, trying to keep him safe. A warm smirk crossed his lips, he understood now. 

“...No wonder you attacked,” he froze for a moment and mentally scolded himself, _‘It wasn’t her you dolt’_ , Six just gave a gentle nod.

He felt horrible now, he broke the tool that calmed her down, that let her remember good times. It was the reason she dropped her, broken trust, broken memories, enhanced even more by the Tower. He never knew something so small and simple could do so much damage when taken away. He never did have anything like that...well, at least someTHING SIMPLE.

Mono cranked the box once again, the melody soothing his mind again, even after taking it away in the Hunter’s abode in the forest and during Six's nightmare torture in the Tower, she gave it to him. She shared it, trusted him with it. But it was so fast, so quick to just trust him like that, it scared Mono. One wrong move and he would destroy her trust in him. 

“Thanks, Six,” she rested her head on his shoulder, placing her hand on his and cranking the music box along with him. Mono still felt the fracture she made in his soul, his mind, his thoughts. But she was trying to fix it, she WAS fixing it, and all Mono hoped for was that they could get back to the point there were at…

**But there were others who had other ideas...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Cocks shotgun) 
> 
> I'm HuNtIn' WaBbItS!...(Snort) I'm so sorry
> 
> also a short chapter, sorry sorry :(
> 
> Edit: YES! Now it looks a bit better! I've added and chopped some things, and I do want to clear some things up about Mono's angry thoughts (In case you're confused)
> 
> ix did help through their adventures, but Mono is still so hooked by her betrayal he doesn't see what they did together, he only sees what she didn't do, stuff she hindered. It didn't help she showed little to no emotion in anything, only driving him further to think that she doesn't care AT ALL, being blinded by his anger


	5. Hunting Brats

The Hunter adjusted his sack mask as he shined his lamp through the dead darkness, Roger told he swept the house, he lost the girl, they needed to get her back. Roger pleaded to go with, his Lady would have his head if he didn’t get her back, but his blindness would only hinder him, and the Deadforest Bullies the Hunter acquired wouldn’t help with his reliability on sound. The little brats ran through bushes and atop trees, acting like scouts to the Hunter. His body ached and stung in pain, it was pure luck that Roger found and patched him aboard the Maw, and now he had a debt to pay to the Lady, although he lacked the respect unlike the rest of her crew. 

“I swear the yellow brat’s lucky, if I had it my way I would’ve hung them both on my wall, right from the wrists,” he coughed, besides his stomach and intestine track, his lungs were also damaged from the blow. The only thing that wasn’t harmed, surprisingly, was his heart, but even that didn’t help his now restricted speed, limping from time to time. The leaves crunched below his boots, his shotgun quietly clunking against his chest as he only heard the scuttling feet of his Bullies and the blowing wind. 

But then his light caught a shine off something, something near a tree, and it quickly disappeared. 

“SICK’EM BOYS!!” The Bullies quickly ran after the running shadows as he aimed his shotgun. He fired off a shot, hitting the side of the dead tree, rocking off sticks off of its dead branches. He growled in rage as she shuffled after the Bullies, reloading the shells of his gun. He could never aim right, could he? But like before, he wasn’t going to just let his prey get away, so he shot another shot, but they hid at the root of a bush, saving them from the bullets. He continued his chase after them as the Bullies started to gain on them, and the Hunter saw what got them caught, that blast-it music box that the girl loves. A stale and broken grin spread across the Hunter’s hidden face, looks like his little toy he gave her helped him out, how about that. 

Bullets whizzed by them again, being denied flesh by another late tree, but now the Bullies were riding their coattails, his grin only grew wider and wider, giving pain to his face. He reloaded, but this time purposely missed, shooting down the head of a bending tree, making it break and fall down, blocking the children’s path. The Bullies quickly pounced on them, going behind and strangling their necks as the Hunter took his time to reload his shells, lifting his lantern to shine in the terrified eyes of the children. 

“Take it easy boys, we want’em breathin’ for now,” They seemed to loosen their grip a bit, but the two still choked for air, it was just music to the Hunter’s scared and chipped ears. _‘Wish I brought a damn cage, no way I’m letting them ruin my coat pocket’_ “Just drag’em, We’ll put’em in cages when we get back,” he slung his shotgun over his shoulder as he lit the path ahead, but the Bullies were already running charging back to the treehouse, eager to cage their prize.

The Bullies threw the two into the open cage as the Hunter slammed the door shut, using a small master key in his coat pocket to lock it up. He lifted the cage in the air and shined his light into it, seeing it reflect on the girl’s yellow coat, and it being absorbed by the bagless boy’s brown trenchcoat. 

“Hope you’re not seasick sunshine,” The girl tensed up at his words, although it just made the Hunter chuckle as he slammed them onto the table. 

“Janitor! I got your brat!” The Hunter took off his shotgun and hung it on the wall as he heard the long-armed man make his way from the basement. He felt his way into the kitchen as he sniffed the air, catching the unfamiliar scents of the two. 

“I smell more than one, Hunter,” his gangly arms reached up to the table and latched onto the cage, but the Hunter kept it in place with his hand, the Janitor growled in response.

“She picked up a friend, I’ll be keeping him,” The Janitor tightened his grip,

“Hey, I need ya to let go for me to get him out,” The Hunter pulled out his key, but the Janitor didn’t move his hand,

“Leave him, our lady might be intrigued by him,”

“No...we had a deal, you were just going to take the girl,”

“Plans change-”

“NO!” he slammed the cage on the table again in anger, but the hand didn’t leave, 

“TAKE THE GIRL, OR TAKE NOTHIN’ AND GET BACK TO YOUR BOAT!”

“Be reasonable Hunter, you have plenty-”

“I CAUGHT THESE BRATS FAR AND SQUARE YOU OLD COOT!!” the Hunter’s blood was boiling, he was going to revenge for his wound, just one of them would do it, yet the Janitor was going to take it away from him. 

“My Lady will have your head if you-”

“I DON’T GIVE THE HIGHEST FUCK ABOUT WHAT SHE DOES TO ME!! I’M HANGING THEM BOTH ON MY WALL!!” The Hunter yanked the cage away, the Janitor got dragged along as the Hunter tried to shake him off, 

“GET OFF YOU MONKEY!! GET. OFF!!!” The two children bounced and slammed and shook around inside with the Hunter's raged shaking, pain filling their heads as busies and small cuts reopened, it was a miracle they didn’t crack their heads. The Hunter growled in anger as he just let go of the cage, he ran over to his shotgun and ripped it off the wall, the nail breaking off as he turned off the safety of the gun. 

“I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF ALL OF YOU!!” he aimed the gun straight at the cage as the Janitor held them close to his chest...


	6. Boots through the Deadgrowth

“GET BACK HERE OLD MAN!!” 

another shell whizzed past the Janitor as he ran away with his arms, he needed to get away from this crazed killer. Maybe not the best choice of words, but the Hunter was at his last straw, at the end of his tether, he was seeing red. The children rode in his pocket, they were terrified and in a terrible position, but this short man needed to keep them alive, so it was their only ticket to have a chance to get out alive. 

Their bodies ached from their bruises and cuts, their head filled with horrible thoughts of death, they held onto each other for comfort. Although the Janitor was much faster than the Hunter, his long-range and sight kept him on the Janitor’s case, and wasn’t planning to let up soon. 

“YOU CAN’T GET AWAY FROM ME BLIND MAN!!” A shell hit a large half-chopped tree, it creaked and cracked until it fell into the way of the Janitor, causing him to trip and fall over, losing the kids in the process.

The three tumbled for a while, dirt and muck now covering them. The Janitor coughing and trying to reclaim his breath, the other two only started softly weeping in pain. Mono wobbly and painfully got to his knees and saw Six’s weeping body, he reached out and took her hand. 

“W-We need to run,” Six clutched his hand hard as he pulled her up to her feet, and they started to run with the loudening sounds of boots behind them. Their feet were battered, their arms and legs bruised, their minds leaking with pain and stress, it made everything dizzy. But their drive kept them pushing through their pain, _‘Do it for Six’ ‘Do it for Mono’_ they weren’t going to give up so early. 

The Hunter hopped over the fallen tree and saw the janitor starting to get to his stubby feet, he smacked the butt of his gun into the back of his head, making a small crack in his skull as he fell back to the ground. He pointed his shotgun right at his neck, 

“WHERE ARE THEY!?” The Janitor laid still,

“TALK!!” the Janitor laid still, 

“OH TO HELL WITH-” The Hunter came crashing down, a large static sonic boom blasted behind him, his shotgun, cap, and burlap mask flying a good 20 feet away, the Janitors hat doing the same. The world now looked grey, dull, old, it felt slow and choking to the Hunter. His movement was slowed as he pushed himself up to his knees turning around to see what happened. His crusty and mangled face was in pure shock and confusion.

A man wearing a grey static suit and grey fedora hat, his skin matching, his eyes covered with shadows. Hunter didn’t know who he was, but his stance, his look, the feeling around him. It made his skin crawl and put a looming sense of dread in the pit of his broken stomach. 

**“Hunting are we?”** The Hunter stood still,

 **“Well? Are you?”** The Hunter stood still,

 **“Nevermind, doesn’t matter, I would give you a warm welcome to my city,”** he pulled back his sleeve to check a grey watch on his arm, 

**“But I have some business to attend to, those children are...persistent,”** the Hunter’s frozen chill melted with now regrowing rage, he too was after his prizes, 

“THEY’RE MINE!!!” He got to his feet and pulled out a hunting knife from his trouser pocket and lunging at the tall thin man.

The Thin Man only reached out his hand, causing the Hunter to glitch and turn his knife upside down, then glitching behind him and pushing his back lightly, making the Hunter’s balance off and having him fall down, the knife going straight into his crusty chest. He screamed in anguish as the Thin Man adjusted his tie, a small smirk spreading across his dull face. 

**“You are persistent Hunter, you never knew when to stop,”** he then glitched away, the Hunter crying and trying to stop the messy bleeding. But eventually, he passed out, blood still leaking like no tomorrow. The Janitor finally woke to his senses and got himself up from the dark brown ground, his head screamed in discomfort, he felt his head till he felt the subtle dip of the crack. 

“Well, I guess the deal’s off, (Sigh) I need to report back to the Lady, I can’t do this on my own,” he thought for a moment, who else could help him? He found the Hunter by pure luck, and it was convenient the Lady agreed to let him assist. _‘Wait, there’s a school inside the city, a lure could…’_ a smug grin spread across his face, the docks weren’t too far, he’ll be getting the girl in no time…

Mono sobbed his still racing heart into his arms, curled up into a ball as Six tried to wrap some ripped clothing to protect his bruises, ignoring her wounds. After leaving the grasp of the Janitor and the Hunter, they reached the edge of the forest, finding a little underground home with piles of clothes and a decayed skeleton in a rotting bed of fungus. It would provide protection from being found, and the clothes would be helpful to pad their bruises and cover their cuts, but worries plagued their minds still.

The Tower didn’t like that Mono left, it still had to be alive, things were still changing, warping. They didn’t destroy the nightmare yet, the nightmare of being capture, killed, eaten. And Mono just couldn’t stand it now, they were so close to death, he wasn’t going to give up, but he didn’t know how much he could take. Six didn’t know what to do, this was the first time she seen him so sad, crumbled, crushed. But felt that before, she knew the feeling...so she did the only thing that she knew to do. 

Six somberly cranked the dented music box, the soft tune filling the dirt dungeon they were in, Six was still shaking, but her mind was under control. Mono still shook and wept, but his thoughts started to dissolve, his doubts and fears, being blocked by the melody. That’s all they could think about, something about the toy just blocked things out. Mono raised his head, his face full of tears, snot, bruises, and blood, he crawled over and placed his hands on Six’s. Six removed her’s and took a piece of cloth and wiped away the mess on his face while he slowly cranked, now he only sniffled tiredly. 

“T-Thanks, Six,” Six softly stroked his cheek of blood and tears. Mono gave a tired smile, his cranking became slower and slower as his body grew more tired of fatigue. Six took back the box and helped Mono to his feet, he walked over to the bed and pushed off the dusting bones. Six helped him place over some blankets and sheets on top of the fungus. They both then climbed into the bed, Six pushed down the crank and turned it until it was resisting going further. She let it go as Mono pulled over a blanket on them, they both stared blankly at the roots dangling through the ceiling until their eyes fell heavy. with tired smiles, they fell into the peace of sleep. Unconsciously, they held each other's hands, perhaps they’ll see each other in their dreams…

_Sweet dreams..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We ain't done with the Broken Forest yet! I'll upload at least one more chapter for a...sequence, if you will, and probably get another one going, I guess it'll be like a series of short stories, yay...I feel like my chapters are short, are they short? I can't tell...


	7. A Cordial Conversation

_**"Hello, hello - we're lonely,** _

_**help her, help her and we'll see** _

_**My way, my way and you'll see** _

_**A halo ascending above our sea.** _

_**Run, run. Here comes Veronica** _

_**Run run. he cut Veronica** _

_**run, run. he cut Veronica** _

**_Send on a ferry and upon our sea..."_ **

Mono peeked an eye open, a swirling feeling around and inside his body. He shot his eyes open and shot to his knees and looked around. The room, the toys, the floaty nature, the pink-purple atmosphere, it was Six's nightmare room. He started to hyperventilate again. Why was he here? Did he get captured? 

_'No, no, no, no!'_ he swiftly got to his feet and ran out of the room, into the hallway with purple portal doors. It was exactly the same like he was reliving a memory. He ran through the doors, seeing which one would get a different result. No door was just a simple door, if none of them lead otherwise, he was royally screwed. Thankfully, one of them worked and brought him to a long hallway, the air was now slow and blue. Static and glitching caught the atmosphere, and Mono knew something was up, something was wrong.

he would've doubted he was back, but seeing that the Hunter came back, who's to say Thin Man didn't come back too? But with knowing that, he froze still, the purple light behind him absorbed by the static. Mono's breathing was choppy, his body twitched, his eyes focused at the door ahead. The eye on it almost looking right at him, _'Welcome back'_ it said, and Mono hated it. He didn't want to go back, but there wasn't anywhere else to go.

...

He took a shaky breath before slowly walking down the hall. It seemed that Mono walked miles before he reached the door, the eye looking down in carved excitement. He looked at the low hanging door handle, it was always made for him. He sloppily jumped and pulled down the handle, cracking open the door to spill purple light outside. The door slowly opened to show Thin Man sitting on his chair, the room now filled with TVs, music boxes, and a coatrack with a grey fedora on it. His suit was clean and tidy, his fedora hat tipped back to show his glowing white eyes staring down at Mono, a crooked slow smile spread across his face. 

**"Having a nightmare, are we? I'm disappointed you consider me as such,"**

Mono bite his tongue, even if it was a nightmare, it didn't make him feel less terrified.

"W-What do y-you want,"

His lips trembled as the Thin Man stood up, his chair disappearing in static.

**"A Cordial Conversation, that's all I request,"**

Mono thought otherwise. That couldn't be all that he wanted, but he was willing to talk, he could get answers. And with them not being too far from the Signal Tower, who's to say it wasn't affecting his mind to bring him there?

**"Walk with me, please,"**

The Thin Man walked past Mono and closed the door, a soft click filling the silence before opening it back up, showing what looked to be a simple living room.

Blue striped walls, two armchairs fit for the Thin Man and Mono. A glass table in the middle with an eye very poorly scratched on it, the Thin Man took his seat, and Mono copied. The two sat in silence, the air thick as bricks as the two both stared at the center table. 

**"Would you like to start, Mono?"**

Mono raised his head, giving a blank stare to him, one he saw too much. 

"How are you still alive?"

The Thin Man had to chuckle at his younger self's cold tone.

**"I don't know, ask the Tower when you visit,"**

"What do you want?" 

The Thin Man intertwined his crooked fingers together as he sat back.

**"What I wanted is already finished,"**

"And what was that,"

 **"The girl you still naively trust,"** Mono's slow breathing became heavier as he balled one of his fists behind his coat.

"She deserves another chance-"

**"After leaving you to spoil,"**

Silence swarmed in again, now in a battle with the hanging tension in the air.

"She doesn't know how to care for people, she never had anyone to practice it!"

**"And you weren't a valid candidate?"**

"The Tower did something to affect her! She showed that she cared! She helped! She tried to stop me from doing something terrible! Stop from releasing you!" 

**"And I don't have the right to go on a walk through town? The Viewers don't care,"**

"They care now!"

A growing chuckle rose from the Thin Man's throat, 

**"Yes, they were upmost disappointed that their shows were canceled,"**

"They were murderous!!" 

The Thin Man seemed unphased by the fact, he was the one who caused their conditions after all. 

**"But don't fret anymore, since my return, the broadcast is transmitting without quandaries,"**

Mono raised an eyebrow, he never finished second grade. His face returned to its angered look, and now worry burrowed inside. The Transmission was back online, the nightmare was not over, not at all.

"...Why?"

**"...Reasons, you wouldn't understand,"**

Mono gave a swift roll of his eyes. _'Thin jerk'_

"Why do you hate Six so much!? I don't understand!"

**"I do because you don't,"**

"I don't because I care about her! I want her to fix her mistake! I want her to change for the better!"

**"She won't"**

"HOW DO YOU KNOW!?" 

The Thin Man gave a small shake as Mono leaped to his feet. His face was hot and read, rage boiling over, fists crushing the tension in their air to pieces. 

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!! YOU DON'T KNOW HER AS I DO!"

**"And how do you know?"**

Mono relaxed his face. What was he getting at? The Thin Man's expression now frowned, his hat fell down and shadowed his eyes, a grim feeling filling the room to the brim like water.

**"I used to have a friend like her. We crossed this very city together, helping each other survive. We were going to Signal Tower, to try and stop whatever the thing was. And we almost did it, we were trying to escape as the building collapsed, stone and wires making our stay unwelcomed. And we reached the door, but the ground beneath me crumbled, but she caught me before I fell. I had put all my trust in her, and I thought she was going to pull me up. But I hung, she just stared at me as my grip was getting slippery, and I was truly confused. I'd always helped her in times of need, and she helped me back. But it was all destroyed, dismissed, and forgotten once she let go, and I lost my grip..."**

His face was covered in black, his voice was hoarse, revengeful, sour. It reminded Mono of how his thoughts sounded in his head, his thoughts of betrayal and sourness. 

"...That happened to you?"

**"I don't lie,"**

His voice now scared Mono, it was disappointed, like a father disappointed in his son. 

"...I can change that, s-she had changed that!" 

**"..."**

It looked like he wasn't willing to go on any further, and Mono felt too tired to press on either. 

"Alright, I'll...just leave then,"

**"You'll see...you'll see..."**

Mono stuffed his hands into his pockets as he gloomily walked to the door, not bothering to look back at the Thin Man's broken and hidden face. He at least knew Thin Man's drive now, but he left so many questions open. How did he return? Why did he restart to broadcast? Why is he trying to help Mono? Why did he care? But in his mind, he was too tired, too confused, too angry. Now he had some questions for Six...

_and he hoped she could answer..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this took a while :P


	8. The Forest's Melody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The big finale!...for this "book", not the series

Mono shot his eyes open into the morning darkness, his breath accelerated for a moment before it slowed down. He was still in the hole, in the woods, together with Six. He was fine, just another nightmare, even if it didn't feel like it this time. Six slipped her bandaged hand over Mono's bruised hand, his eyes shot to Six's as she sat up with her hood down. 

_'Are you ok?'_ Mono just gave a nod to her as he tiredly sat up against the dirt wall behind him. She brushed away his hair that covered his brown eyes, she never saw his eyes, but she wasn't surprised. 

"I like your eyes," she gave a warm smile as Mono gave a flustered one. Mono tried to brush away Six's hair, but she quickly moved away, getting off the bed and onto her feet with a worried and scared look. 

"What's wrong? I just want to see your eyes, you saw mine without permission," Mono tried to ease her with joking, but was unsuccessful as she turned her head away from him. _'_

 _Ok, I guess she doesn't want me to see her eyes. I wonder why,'_ He would have to save his minor questions for later. He had more important subjects to ponder and ask, so he got to his feet and walked over to Six, taking her hand in his swollen bandaged hand. 

"Six, we need...to talk," Mono could see and feel her tense at his request, but relaxed and nodded. Six went and sat on the bed as Mono stood in front of her. The Judge, and the defendant.

"Six, do you care about me?" It felt like a foolish question, but he just couldn't convince himself that she did. Six hastily nodded in response, Mono slowly nodded back as he twiddled his fingers. 

"Y-you said that you never had a person to practice your empathy, is that true? No one?" Six looked down at the dirt floor for a moment, looking back up and nodding.

 _'How long was she alone? At what age was she abandoned? Was she even "abandoned"?'_

"Did you know your parents?" she shook her head, Mono could feel hard sympathy for her, he never knew his parents either. Nothing but the marks of a whip on his body, now hidden from the cruel marks of the world. He could only wonder how Six's parents looked like, how they acted, if they even had any time to give an impression on her.

"Why did you drop me? Besides just the Signal Tower, the music box, anything else?" Six's breath drew still, almost like she tasted something sour. Mono felt like something grabbed his heart, he felt like he said something stupid. Did he? 

"You left me..." Mono's heart burst in guilt, he knew exactly what she was talking about, that exact moment. 

_Six and Mono ran into the childish bedroom. The air now felt like static, everything felt slow, but the Thin Man that chased wasn't in a hurry._

_'We need to hide!'_

_Mono looked around the room, there was barely anything to hide in or under. A table, some toys, and a bed were all that they had to work with. Mono quickly ran and slid underneath, blending with the darkness as he watched underneath. He was hopping Six would follow, but she instead huddled underneath the bare table. Mono reached out and was about to call, but the door squeaked with the light flickering on and off, the tall shadow of the Thin Man looming in._

_He hid back into the bed as the Thin Man slowly wandered inside. The toys rattled and shake, the lights flickered violently, and Mono's lips trembled as he focused on the Thin Man. The Thin Man's crooked head looked down towards the table. Six tried to run to Mono and hide with him, but she tripped on the crack of the board, in line-sight of the silent man. She looked up at Mono with a face petrified with fear, her eyes pleading, her body barely trembling. She looked behind was the warped TV man, his static face only piercing back at her._

_"Mono..." She reached out her hand for him to take, tears welling up and out of her eyes..._

**_But he did nothing_ **

_Her eyes, her body, her face, all were now iced with fear and hopelessness as the Thin Man crookedly bent down. He expended a hand down to Six as she looked at Mono with betrayed confusion, static seemed to be taken from her before she was telepathically grabbed by the Thin Man, leaving behind a static shadow with Six's likeness behind._

_The room now calmed, the toys were still, and the light illuminated what was left behind. The shadow pushed themself up to their knees and looked at Mono as he crawled out, body trembling with guilt and fear. It held no face, but Mono could see judgment, betrayal, and hatred. All without a face to express them. Mono reached out to take their hand, wanting some kind of comfort, something. But it disappeared, reminding him of what he did._

_'Six...no...'_

_His eyes slowly leaked tears as his lips trembled, his fist shaking in anger. He let his fear take over his actions, he did it, it was all because of him. Six tried to stop him, and he didn't heed her unknown warning that even she didn't know._

_**It was all. His. Fault.** _

Tears welled up in Mono's eyes as he lost himself in memory, those 5 words circled around, chanting again, and again, and again. He gave a small twitch and looked Six deep into her eyes, her expression once again was blank, but Mono could tell she held resentment against him still. He opened his mouth, but his lips only shook. What should he say? What COULD he say? He only shook his head as tears started to quickly pour down his cheeks. His body felt heavy and dead, his brain scattered and tormenting. He felt lost, he always just told himself _'What could I do?'_.

He could've tried and help, he could've said something to reassure her that she was going to be ok. But he only watched, paralyzed with fear, and did nothing...

Six wrapped her arms around Mono and pulled him into a tight embrace. His face widened in shock, the scent of her rubber raincoat filled his nostrils, his tears sliding down her back.

"Not forgive, but understand," Mono started to trembled as he sobbed violently into her shoulder, and she only held him close for comfort. The music box seemed to magically start playing its heavenly tune, almost as giving its own hug. What she did was wrong, what he did was wrong, they both made terrible mistakes. But in the end, they fixed their mistakes. Mono saved Six from the Tower, and Six saved him from the Tower, they were even. But they still had many things to mend, but now they understood their mistakes and the reason for making them. Now they needed to forgive each other, fix their relationship...

_And maybe more..._

* * *

The Janitor knocked his long boney fingers on the Lady's door, taking off his hat as he waited. 

**"You may enter Roger,"**

It never ceased to amaze him how she knew who was outside her room. She did have magic, but still.

He opened the knob and into the Lady's beautiful purple room. He felt his way past her closet and tried not to knock over her tall stacks of papers, listening to the gentle brushes of hair ahead. She stood in front of her broken mirror, looking out of the corner of her eyes to see where she was brushing.

**"What is it, Roger?"**

He froze in place and fiddled with his hat,

"I-I just w-wanted to give a report..."

She stopped mid brushed and turned her face towards him, he didn't need eyes to see her cold feeling stare. 

**"And your final analysis?"**

"...We lost them,"

**"Them?"**

He clenched his hat,

"S-She was with another child,"

**"And you thought I would want them?"**

His body started to tremble in anxiety. 

"H-He was w-with her, t-they seemed to h-have a strong b-bond. I-I think he was the o-one to get her o-out," 

**"So she wasn't corrupted fully?"**

"...no?"

**"Good,"**

The Janitor took a long relieved sigh as she set down her brush next to the porcelain doll.

**"And what about the Hunter?"**

"Dead my Lady, he got angered when I didn't allow him to have the boy. He threatened me with a shotgun, I ran with the children and tripped. I got knocked out, and the next thing I knew, I felt his lifeless corpse pouring blood out of his chest,"

The Lady gave a very annoyed eye-roll

**"I didn't expect much from that brute,"**

Then the two sat in silence, the Janitor waited in anticipation as the Lady thought over what to do next. 

**"I have an idea,"**

The Janitor parked his head up, 

**"Grab the chiefs will you? Tell them they're going to cook somewhere new,"**

"...Where?"

**"You're a friend of Ms.Kettlebell, aren't you?"**

The Janitor gave a quick nod,

 **"Then I think school's is back in session..."**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter I think was my favorite to write so far
> 
> HOPE YOU LIKE THE NEXT STORY CLIFFHANGER!! MWAAHAAHAAHAA
> 
> I need to lay off...just lay off...I need to get sleep


End file.
